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Hello everyone! I noticed this season in magazines and on TV that braids are very popular. I have seen all types of braids being incorporated into hair styles such as french braids, fishbone braids, braided buns, etc. A popular braid that my friend pointed out to me was the 5 strand braid. I decided to go to YouTube to learn how to do such a braid because to me it sounded quite complex! I ended up finding this really good tutorial online by LuxyHair (I find they have really good hair tutorials!):

I have to admit, it did take me a while to master it but once you get the technique it is as easy as a regular 3 strand braid. The trick is to always hold 2 strands of hair in each hand and leave the middle piece on it’s own to twist the other strands around. It sounds confusing but watch the video and you’ll see what I mean! What I did was view the video on YouTube with my Photobooth application running to use as a mirror. See picture below for results and let me know what you think!

Today I’m writing about another cool nail polish on the market which is by Essie. The nail polish is unique in that it enables you to create a reptile look on your nails by using a magnetic technique. I actually got the nail polish for Christmas and was frustrated because it didn’t come with instructions so I had to figure it out on my own. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as I thought and didn’t work on every nail. About 3 months later I decided to give it another try and this time, of course, I went to YouTube for the answer! I found many different instructional videos on how to properly apply the polish to get the right effect, and it worked! The trick is to be patient. You first have to apply one coat of the Essie Magnetic Nail Polish, and let it set for about 2 minutes. After 2 minutes of drying, you then work nail-by-nail applying a second coat and immediately after the coat is applied you take the lid of the polish (that has a removable magnetic piece) and hover it over your nail for about 30 seconds ensuring to roll over the entire nail. The important thing is you have to use the magnetic lid right after the second coat of polish is applied otherwise the polish will dry and the effect will not work. Here is a picture of the results so you can see what it should look like.

I found this video on youtube when searching for different ways to wear a scarf that I thought was quite entertaining and useful. I LOVE scarves, and have quite the collection including scarves of different patterns, lengths, and shapes. My issue is that I always end up wearing my scarf the same old boring way tucked into my jacket so that it is hidden. I always admire the way others wear their scarves in a way that they stand out and accessorize their outfit. The video that I found is pretty cool because it shows 25 different ways to wear a scarf using different types of scarves and is very straight forward and easy to follow. The video is by wendyslookbook and can be found through this link:

My sister got married last year and I was chosen as her Maid of Honour. For those of you who have not had this duty before or you’re just as clueless as I was this bridal shower theme may be useful. When we went to pick out invitations, we noticed a lot of the sample bridal shower invitations were themed. Since my sister and her fiance at the time were going on a tropical honeymoon we chose to make the shower tropical theme.

Planning for the shower ended up being a lot of fun and allowed us to be creative. Instead of simply numbering each table, we gave each table the name of a tropical island. When guests arrived, their place cards were a mini suitcase filled with candy with a luggage tag that indicated their name and table.

The tables were decorated with a bird of paradise as the centerpiece and most of the games were vacation themed. A few games that we played were Survivor in which we voted off tables throughout the afternoon, guess this tropical flower, guess how many shells are in a jar, trivia questions about where the couple vacationed, etc. Many of the prizes we gave away were also based on the tropical theme such as sun screen and flip flops. And of course to top it all off, the bridal party all wore flowers in their hair matched with a colourful lei. The shower turned out to be very successful and a lot of fun!

I know it is a little late (about 5 months late to be exact) but I thought since I started my blog I should write about the costume I made myself last year for halloween. I love halloween because it let’s me use my creativity to make a costume that is acceptable to wear for one night! I decided to create a peacock costume because I saw a few others online and it looked like a really neat idea. I wanted to write about how I created this costume because I noticed it was hard to find instructions online on how to master a peacock costume so hopefully this helps!

I ended up finding a turqouise sequin dress from a second hand store which I cut apart and sewed to a black tank top. The colour of the dress could not have been more perfect for the costume. I then went to a halloween costume shop and found a turqouise tutu that matched the top i had made. The tricky part was how to make the tail. Since I waited until the last minute, ordering peacock feathers online was not an option because they would not arrive in time. Luckily, a friend of mine had gone to a peacock themed wedding and was able to gather a few feathers for me. Another friend claimed to have a peacock who visited her backyard quite frequently and left a lot of feathers which she collected and passed over to me. The rest of the feathers I had to pick off halloween masks that I found. My point here is that finding peacock feathers was the hardest part of this costume so plan ahead! Once I had all the feathers I needed, I decided to use a paper fan as the base to glue the feathers to as it created the perfect effect for a peacock tail.

This was definitely a fun costume to make,and the only time consuming part was making the tail which took about an hour

I don’t know about everyone else but I cannot for the life of me curl my hair with a regular curling iron. Maybe it’s my technique or the type of curling iron that I have but it just does not seem to work out properly on my hair. I came across a stand in the mall doing tutorials on a curling wand that gives off the same look but with a different device and decided, hey why not give it a try? So I did just that and purchased the curling wand. I was skeptical to try it out because I am a hair diva – my friends always tease me that I am obsessed with my hair being perfect. When I did try it though, I was amazed with the results! Not only was it easy to use but I found the end results much better with the wand than with a regular curling iron. What I particularly like about the wand is that you can achieve different types of curls from Shirley Temple tight curls to a more wavy ‘beach hair’ look. Try it out!

My friend let me do her hair for a bridal showerThis hairdo took about 20 minutes and once accessorized with a clip turned out very glamourous, perfect for the occasion

I love fashion and always keep an eye out for what is new and trending in the fashion scene. Where better to find the latest trends then through celebrities. As much as I hate to admit it, many of my outfits are inspired by pop culture and celebrities. It’s hard to ignore it though, I mean we are bombarded with advertisements daily and being the fashion lover that I am, I can’t help but to admire some of the outfits I see. What I like to do is gather a bunch of pictures from various websites or magazines of outfits I think are very well put together. I then look through the clothes I have (my closet is full!) and I know that I will most likely have the garments to mimic these celeb outfits. This is the first post on celebrity inspired outfits. I will pick my favourite outfits of the week and show my rendition of the outfit. It’s really easy to do and helps to stay current with the trends. The first outfit is inspired by Selena Gomez who is no stranger to many different fashion magazines for her young and classy style. Selena’s style is very in tune with clothing I own so recreating her outfits is very easy. In this picture, Selena has a very casual outfit wearing a jean shirt and leggings (perfect airplane/travel outfit). This was an easy outfit to copy, with a jean shirt I bought a few months ago, black leggings, a simple black purse, and an animal print scarf. The second celebrity outfit I chose is worn by Rachel Bilson, once again a more casual, everyday outfit perfect for a day of shopping or running errands! For this outfit, I cuffed the bottom of a pair of jeans thrown together with a blazer and tank (easy) and accessorized with a floral scarf, black wedges and a black chain link purse. This is a fun ‘hobby’ of mine, and I will continue to post easy to create outfits. Stay tuned!